Runaway
by TMNTfan1
Summary: When a young teenage girl shows up at the edge of Forks, the packs are curious. Why would someone in that condition be out in the middle of nowhere? Even more questions pop up when she turns out to be related to two pack members, and is imprinted on by another.
1. Chapter 1

She stumbled as she tried to pick up her pace, but she simply couldn't do it. A sharp slice of pain tore through her leg, like it had many times on her journey from the edge of Port Townsend, but this time it made her leg give out beneath her. She tumbled to the ground, her backpack a nearly crushing weight on her back.

She tried to push herself up with her arms, but they shook and gave out on her, like her legs. She couldn't do it. She just couldn't do it anymore.

She twisted her body to look down at her leg.

Her empty stomach clenched with nausea at the sight of the long, jagged gash on her upper leg, raw flesh barely visible with blood trailing down her leg. It had started to scab over after only a couple hours into her trip, but with her constant running it wouldn't stay closed, and she knew she'd lost a lot of blood.

So this was it. After everything, this was how it was going to end. She had fought for the past seven years of her life, and now her pain would finally end.

She almost welcomed the darkness that came over her as her eyes drifted close…

XXX

Two wolves loped through the woods, one chocolate brown, the other sandy colored.

_ "Jeeze, do you ever get used to the stench?"_

_ "Quil, you've been part of this pack for, what, eight months? Get over it."_

_ "Hey, not all of us can be BFFs with the Cullens, Clearwater."_

Seth rolled his big, wolf eyes as he loped ahead of his pack brother. Then a disturbing scent drifted over the spring breeze to his nose, jerking him to an abrupt stop. Quil ran into him from behind.

_ "Dude! What the heck?"_

_ "Don't you smell that?"_

Quil sniffed the air. When he caught the scent Seth was referring to he froze, his muscles going stiff.

_ "Why would someone be this far out here besides the Cullens?"_

_ "I don't know. Lets check it out."_

The two wolves raced through the trees, following the terrifying scent until it lead them to a part of the woods several meters from the highway, so that they could see the highway through the trees, but no one driving by would see them. The two wolves stopped side-by-side, looking down at the source of the smell that caught their attention.

A girl, barely any younger than Seth, lay unconscious on the forest floor. She was wearing a hooded jacket, jean shorts, running shoes, and a heavy-looking backpack. Quil nudged her over with his nose, rolling her onto her side. He recoiled at the sight of the large gash on her leg.

_ "What the hell?!"_

_ "Why would someone this badly injured be all the way out here?"_ Seth asked worriedly.

_ "I've no clue, you moron. …You think Carlisle would be willing to help her?" _

Seth nodded, his large, shaggy head bobbing. _"Yeah, Carlisle would never turn down someone this badly injured."_

_ "He won't…change her, will he?"_ Quil's thoughts were doubtful. He clearly wanted this girl to get some help, but he didn't want another 'Cullen' added to the already large coven.

Seth huffed as he nudged his nose near her chest, seeing if he could feel her heart beat. It was very weak. _"I don't know. But if she doesn't get help soon, she's not going to make it."_

_ "You get the word to Carlisle while I get her there."_ Quil said before he phased back, pulling on the cutoffs that were tied to his ankle. He then took off the girl's backpack and slipped it on himself before he scooped the girl up into his arms. He nodded once to Seth before racing through the trees toward the Cullen's mansion a few miles away.

Seth threw his head back and howled as he jogged after Quil. Immediately several voices popped into his head.

_ "What's going on?"_

_ "Seth are you okay?"_

_ "What's up?"_

_ "Can I talk please?!"_

Everyone fell silent at Seth's request. He could tell by everyone's thoughts that the whole Black Pack was phased in, which, beside himself and Quil, included Jacob, Leah, Embry, Kori, Josh, AJ, and Scott. He could also tell from Jake's thoughts that Sam and Jared from the Uley Pack were there, too.

_ "Quil and I are on our way to the Cullen's place, we found an injured girl near the road. Has a huge gash on her leg. We're not sure if she's gonna make it. Could someone give the Doc a heads up? We'll be there in a few minutes."_

_ "Yeah, I'm at the Cullen's right now with Kori. We'll let 'em know."_ Jake answered tensely. Seth knew how he felt. Random teenage girls don't just show up in the middle of nowhere with life-threatening injuries like that.

Seth picked up his pace slightly so he was running alongside Quil, though he could run much faster, but he wanted to stay with Quil in case he needed any help.

When they reached the Cullens' house Emmett was waiting outside. Quil handed the girl over to Emmett, who blurred into the house to one of the rooms upstairs.

Seth phased back and pulled on his shorts before he hurried into the house after everyone else.

All the Cullens were there except Edward and Bella, who had gone to stay with the Denali's for a couple weeks. Jake, Sam, Leah, Embry, and Kori were also there.

"Seth!" Nessie shouted happily as she bounded up to him and leapt into his arms. Seth smiled and hugged her before setting her back on the ground. Nessie was almost a year old, but she looked like she was ten.

Kori hurried up to him as well, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck as his wrapped around her waist, his lips finding the skin of her neck.

Most everyone stayed downstairs but Jake, Sam, Quil, and Embry went upstairs to see what was going on.

The girl was already laid down on a hospital bed, needles and an oxygen mask hooked up to her. Embry finally got a good look at the girl his two friends had brought in.

Her skin was pale, probably halfway between his skin tone and the Cullens', but it was more of a sickly shade. It was probably due to blood loss. If Embry had to guess, he'd say her skin would be just barely lighter than his. She also had dark brown hair that probably went just past her shoulders, but it was hard to tell in her position. Her hair also had a windblown look to it, like what girls' hair looks like after they've run a few miles with their hair down.

"She looks familiar."

Embry looked over his shoulder at Quil, who was watching from the doorway. He turned back around to look at the girl again, wondering what Quil was talking about. When he looked a little closer, something about her did seem familiar, but he was certain he didn't know her…did he?

Carlisle was looking back and forth between the girl and the monitor she was hooked up to. "She's obviously lost a lot of blood, and she's also suffering from dehydration and malnutrition, but those can be dealt with later." Carlisle began typing away at a keyboard and Embry started feeling antsy. Shouldn't he being doing something that was going to _help_ this girl instead of working on a keyboard?

"What are you doing?" Quil asked, almost as if he could hear Embry's thoughts.

"I'm analyzing a sample of her blood to see if I have any of the same type to use for a blood transfusion." Carlisle answered as his eyes scanned the screen. His carefully blank face changed slightly, but no one could place how. He made a 'hm' sound with his throat.

"What?" Jake demanded, stepping up in front of the others as they tensed behind him.

Carlisle clicked on the computer mouse a couple times and the screen changed. Carlisle sucked in a shocked, unnecessary breath.

"What?!" Jake and Sam both demanded impatiently.

Carlisle turned to look at the group of werewolves in front of him. His golden colored eyes gave nothing away.

"I was comparing her DNA with some of the other blood types I have available on hand…and I came up with two matches."

Sam and Jake exchanged a glance while Embry and Quil did the same, all four confused. Sam turned and met Carlisle's eyes.

"What does that mean, exactly?" he asked slowly.

Carlisle looked back at the computer screen and sighed before he looked back up at them.

"Her DNA is almost an identical match to two files I have here. That can only mean one thing…She's related to them, by blood."

The four wolves looked back at him in absolute shock.

"Who are they?" Jake demanded before anyone else had time to recover. Embry had a few ideas already in his head. Seth and Leah. Jake and Kori. Even Bella and Renesmee.

Carlisle sighed again, clearly not happy to be the one delivering this news. He looked up and met eyes with Sam.

"Sam Uley," his eyes switched and met eyes with Embry, "and Embry Call."

Everything stopped. All eyes switched to stare at Embry in absolute shock. When the words finally registered in Embry's mind he slowly lifted his head and met eyes with Sam.

"How?" he breathed.

Carlisle typed away quickly before he answered. "It appears…you all have the same father. Joshua Uley?"

Sam crossed his arms and looked down with a long sigh. He nodded his head slowly, as if ashamed to call that man his father.

Embry's body felt numb, cold as ice. His father. He finally knew who his father was. It wasn't Billy Black. It wasn't Quil Ateara. It was Joshua Uley. Sam was his brother. Embry felt himself slouch back against the wall as the weight of the information crashed down on him.

"Could one of us donate blood for the girl?" Sam asked quietly.

Carlisle nodded. "Yeah, that would probably be best. I think I have enough of your guys' blood in storage to give her and still have some left over."

Sam nodded one, tense nod and Embry bolted. Quil went to follow him, but Sam put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, causing Quil looked up at him.

"I'll go talk to him." Sam said before he followed Embry.

He was standing at the top of the stairs, his hands bracing himself against the wall. Sam walked up behind him and rested a hand on his shoulders.

"How're you holding up?" Sam asked quietly.

Embry's shoulders slouched farther.

"I don't know." he finally admitted in a weak voice that cracked near the end. He took in a deep, shaky breath. "My whole life, I've wondered who my father is, who I am. Then, when I phased and we narrowed it down to Billy, Quil, or Josh…I didn't know what I wanted anymore. I mean, I wanted to know who my father was, but…what if one of my best friends turned out to be my brother? I don't know…how I'd handle that."

Sam looked down at the floor, his hand still on Embry's shoulder. "I don't know what to tell you, Embry. Joshua…he left my mother and I when I was about four years old. I've only spoken to him a few times since then. He was never really much of a father to me. And I'm so sorry he had to go and do this to you, too."

Embry turned around to look up at his brother. His eyes glanced briefly past Sam to the doorway of the room they'd just left before he looked back up at him. "And now he's done it to her."

Sam nodded gently. "Unfortunately, it seems that way. I guess we'll have to hear her full story when she wakes up."

Embry looked at the floor. "If she wakes up." he muttered quietly, actually feeling afraid for his…sister.

Sam looked down at the floor, unsure what else to say. Then, he looked at Embry's face. "Embry, I really am sorry for everything my…_our _father did to you. You definitely didn't deserve any of it. But I want you to know you're not alone in this. Despite all the problems Josh has caused, he did do one good thing. Because of him, we're brothers. Technically, we always were, but either way, that doesn't change anything. I promise I'll help you get through all of this."

Embry smiled up at Sam in appreciation. "Thanks, Sam."

Sam nodded and clapped a hand on Embry's shoulder.

"Come on, lets see how things are doing in there."

Embry nodded and the two of them walked back into the room. The only thing that had changed was that Carlisle had set up an IV that was injecting blood into the girl's arm.

"So, what now?" Embry asked when they entered the room.

"She may be unconscious for a couple days, but I should be able to get her everything she needs through the IV, so she should pull through. Then, maybe we can find out what exactly is going on." Carlisle answered.

Embry nodded as he watched her sleep.

"Well, I got to get going. I've got to baby-sit Claire. You coming, Em?" Quil asked curiously as he turned to the door.

Embry shook his head as he sat in a chair by the bed. "Nah. I'm going to stay here, if that's okay." he answered quietly, not taking his eyes off the girl in the bed.

Quil and Jake exchanged a worried glance before they looked back at their best friend.

"Alright, well, I'll see you later, Em." Quil said as he left.

"Yeah, I'm going to go fill in the rest of my pack about what happened." Jake said as he, too, headed for the door.

Sam looked down at Embry. "I've got to go fill my pack in, too. You going to be okay here?"

Embry nodded as he looked up at him. "Yeah, thanks Sam. For everything."

Sam smiled as he clapped Embry on the back. "No problem, bro. See you later. I'll probably stop back in, in a couple hours."

Embry nodded, not bothering to respond as Sam left. As he continued to watch the girl sleep, he finally noticed what Quil had been talking about earlier. She did look familiar, but not in the way he originally thought. She had several similarities to both him and Sam, just more feminine, obviously.

She had a similar nose that got a little wider at the end, like Sam's. Her cheek bones were also a bit more pronounced, like Sam's as well. But her eyes and lips were closer to Embry's.

She really was their sister.

Embry sighed at that thought. "Get better." he whispered weakly.

**XXX**

**Hope everyone liked the first chapter of **_**Runaway**_**. It's sort of a continuation of my other Twilight fanfic **_**You Don't Have to be Alone**_**, which is all about my OC Kori Black; however this story can stand alone.**

**Also, I apologize if I got any of the blood transfusion stuff wrong, I'm not exactly an expert on that kind of stuff.**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

Her eyes squinted against the harsh, bright light as she was pulled from unconsciousness. After a few blinks, she finally managed to open her eyes and take in her surroundings.

It looked like she was in a hospital room, surrounded by clean, white walls and a tile floor. It smelled kind of bad, a little like bleach or something. Her body flexed and she winced at the stiffness in her upper leg. That's when everything rushed back to her. She'd been running, losing blood by the second from the gash on her leg. Then…nothing. She must've passed out from blood loss or something.

Movement at the corner of her eye made her look over. A boy, or more of a young man, was sitting slouched and asleep in a chair right by her bed. He was clearly Native American, but she didn't recognize him. He looked like he was in his early twenties or something. He was a little slender but she could see the muscles in his arms bulge under his tight, blue T-shirt.

The door creaked and she turned her head as a pale, blonde man walked into the room.

"Ah, good, you're awake." he smiled as he crossed the room and paused beside her bed. "How are you feeling?"

She swallowed and stretched experimentally again. "I'm a little sore, but I'm okay. Where am I?"

He smiled gently down at her as he put his hands in his pockets. "You're in my home. A couple of my friends found you passed out by the side of the road and brought you here, since it was much closer than any hospitals in the area. I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen. What's your name?"

She looked him over a little suspiciously. He looked nice enough, but that didn't necessarily mean she could trust him. "Janet."

He raised one eyebrow. "Interesting. Now, why don't you tell me your real name."

She sighed. He was smarter than she thought. "Okay, you got me. My name's Jamie."

He nodded once. "It's nice to meet you, Jamie. Now, would you mind telling me what happened to your leg and why you were out in the middle of nowhere like you were?"

She swallowed and thought for a moment. "I…think I gashed it on a broken fence post a while back. Wait, how long have I been here?"

"You've been unconscious for two days. Where do you live?"

Jamie looked around the room, not too keen on answering any of his questions. What if he tried to contact Rick?

"That's not really important, is it?"

"Well, you could tell me, or I could get curious and look it up since I do have a sample of your blood on hand." he shrugged apologetically.

"Damn." she muttered under her breath. Looks like there's no getting out of it. "I ran here from Port Townsend."

His eyes widened slightly. "You ran all the way?"

"Well, walked, ran, whatever you prefer. I had to walk at least part of the time."

"That's impressive. Over a hundred miles I believe."

Jamie didn't offer a thanks or any comment. She just looked back over at the boy sitting in the chair a few feet from her. It looked really uncomfortable. Why was he doing that?

"Who is he?" she asked quietly, her eyes examining his face.

"That's a friend of mine, Embry. He wanted to make sure you made it through."

"Why? He doesn't even know me. Is he one of the guys that found me?"

"No, he isn't. He just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Jamie didn't know what to think about that. No one had ever really cared about her before. Not since her mom.

Embry's face scrunched up and he blinked his eyes open. When they made eye contact his own eyes widened and he sat straight up and smiled gently at her.

"Uh, hi. Glad to see you're up."

Jamie simply nodded with a small, hesitant smile.

He glanced at Dr. Cullen before offering his hand to Jamie to shake. "I'm Embry Call."

She hesitated for a second before shaking his hand carefully. "I'm Jamie."

Embry raised one eyebrow curiously, wondering to himself why she didn't say a last name, then again she probably doesn't want to give that information out to strangers.

"So, Jamie," Carlisle spoke again, "What made you run all the way from Port Townsend to Forks with an injury like that?"

Jamie chewed her bottom lip as she thought about how to answer. Finally, she shrugged and looked at her lap. Maybe they'd think she was just embarrassed or something and wouldn't make her answer. She really didn't want a bunch of strangers knowing all her deepest secrets.

"You ran all that way?" Embry repeated in shock, his eyes wide with a hint of admiration in them.

She smiled shyly with another shrug. "I guess being on the track team has its advantages." she offered weakly.

Embry huffed in surprise. "Apparently."

"So Jamie, do you have any family you'd like me to contact?" Carlisle asked gently.

Jamie sucked in a breath and tried to keep the panic off her face. She didn't know, however, that Carlisle and Embry could hear her heartbeat pick up. They glanced at each other, silently wondering what had scared her so much.

She swallowed and shook her head slowly. "Um, no. You don't need to contact anyone. Trust me, no one would even care I'm here. I swear."

Carlisle raised one eyebrow at her. "I really should contact your parent or guardian, since you're clearly younger than eighteen."

"How do you know I'm younger than eighteen?" she asked carefully.

Carlisle looked at her like it was obvious. "I'm going to take a guess and say you're fifteen."

She blinked up at him before looking at her lap, muttering, "Lucky guess."

"Don't you want your parents to know you're okay?" Embry asked curiously.

Jamie swallowed and looked at her lap, playing with her fingers. How much of the truth could she get away with saying without digging herself into a hole?

"I…I don't have any biological parents. I live…I _lived_ with my step dad." she finally whispered.

"What about your real parents?" Embry asked gently. Jamie had no idea why he wanted to know about her so much.

"Well…my mom died from cancer when I was about eight years old. Then, my step dad got custody of me."

"And your dad?" Embry asked in a strange voice. Jamie glanced at him. He was staring at her worriedly.

She shrugged in answer. "Never met him. I guess him and my mom had a kind of 'one night stand' type of deals. Don't know his name or anything, she refused to tell me anything about him."

Embry nodded once, looking down at the white sheets of her bed instead of at her.

There was a knock on the door and it cracked open, revealing another enormous, tan Native American man. This one was at least several inches taller than Embry with more muscular arms. He had broad cheekbones and thick eyebrows. He looked a little scary and intimidating.

"Esme made some food, thought our little patient might be hungry." he said as he entered the room carrying a plate loaded with meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn.

Carlisle nodded a greeting to him before turning to her. "Jamie, are you hungry?"

"Um-" she was interrupted by a loud gurgling from her stomach. Jamie clutched her stomach with her hands and blushed as the three men in the room chuckled.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Embry spoke through his laughter while the new man placed the plate on Jamie's lap. Jamie glanced nervously between the stranger and the plate. The mouthwatering scent was drifting through her nose, making her nearly drool. But what if they poisoned it or something?

"Oh, Jamie, this is Sam Uley. He's the man that donated the blood we used in your blood transfusion."

Jamie looked up at the tall man in shock. "Really?"

Sam nodded once, his face seemed void of any emotion.

"So…technically…you saved my life?" she asked uncertainly.

To her surprise, Sam chuckled, along with Carlisle and Embry.

"I can't take the credit for that one, Carlisle's the doctor around here." he answered with a small smile.

She nodded slowly as she looked at her feet. From the corner of her eye she saw Carlisle glance at Sam, who nodded at the look. Now what? Carlisle turned to look down at her.

"Jamie, there's something you need to know."

She swallowed nervously. "What's that?" she asked in a shaky voice.

Carlisle glanced at Sam again before meeting her eyes. "Well, I had to take a sample of your blood so I could find the right type in my store. And…two files came up as a match."

Jamie had no idea where this was going. "What does that mean?" she asked quietly.

"It means that I found two people in my files that are a biological match to you."

Jamie blinked, her mind refusing to put two and two together.

Carlisle sighed patiently, his hands in his white, doctor-coat pockets. "They're related to you, by blood. Your family."

Everything froze. Her mind, body, everything. She wasn't sure how long she was silent for.

"What do you mean?" she finally whispered. "That's-that's not possible. I don't have any family. My mom died when I was eight, she didn't have any living family."

Carlisle nodded in agreement. "I understand that, but this isn't from your mother's side."

Jamie's stomach lurched as her throat constricted around her next breath. After she managed to breathe again, she asked in a shaky voice, "You mean…y-you know my father?"

"Sort of," Carlisle answered gently, "I don't know him personally, however I know of him. And I do know two of his sons."

"Sons?" Jamie repeated quietly. So she had half-brothers?

Carlisle nodded again. "Only two that we know of, but I suppose there's always that possibility that there's more."

"Who are they? What are their names?" Jamie asked, her voice a little stronger than before.

Carlisle was silent for a long moment. Finally, he spoke. "Sam Uley," he gestured to Sam, "and Embry Call." he gestured to Embry.

Jamie stared at them, her mouth hanging open in shock. She'd been sitting here with her _brothers_ for the past -what, ten minutes? At least it explained why Embry would sleep here waiting for her to wake up.

"You're my half-brothers?" she repeated out loud.

Embry looked down and nodded slowly while Sam met her gaze and nodded.

"What about…our father?" she asked uncertainly.

Sam grimaced, and Jamie could tell this wasn't his favorite topic.

"His name's Joshua Uley."

Joshua Uley. She finally had a name. Then, she realized something.

"You have the same last name as him." she said to Sam.

He nodded. "Yeah, Josh married my mom when they were nineteen. When I was four, he left us. Apparently he couldn't handle having a family." he answered, his tone held a hint of bitterness. "I've only spoken to him a few times since he left."

Jamie nodded slowly as she thought. "How old are you two?" she asked, glancing between them. No one really paid much attention when Carlisle slipped out of the room to give them some privacy.

"I'm twenty-one." Sam answered.

"Seventeen." Embry answered.

So, their father had to have gotten Embry's mother pregnant almost right after he'd left Sam and Sam's mom. And if Jamie was fifteen…that would mean Embry would have had to have been about a year old before Josh got Jamie's mom pregnant.

"So, basically…he's a manwhore." she finally answered.

Embry snorted in laughter and ducked his head as he laughed. Sam fought a smile of his own, but still chuckled quietly.

"Pretty much." Sam answered.

"So…I've always known I'm part Native American, but since my mom refused to tell me anything about my dad…what tribe are we from?"

Sam smiled gently. "Quileute."

She thought for a moment. "I haven't heard anything about that tribe. I'll have to look it up when I get the chance.

Sam smiled warmly at that comment.

After a moment of silence, Jamie glanced between them. "Do you know who found me? Dr. Cullen said they're friends of his."

Embry nodded. "Yeah, it was Seth and Quil. They're a couple friends of ours, too. Quil carried you back here while Seth called to give everyone a heads up."

Jamie nodded with a small smile. "Well, you'll have to tell them thanks for me."

Embry smiled. "You can tell them yourself when you meet them. I'm sure you'll see them both soon enough."

Jamie swallowed and forced a smile as she nodded. Would she be able to stay that long? How long could she risk staying in one place?

"Did Dr. Cullen say how long I have to stay like this?" she asked quietly.

Sam and Embry exchanged a quick glance, one that Jamie almost didn't notice.

Sam was the one who answered. "He said you'll have to stay in bed for at least a week. But you'll have to take it easy for a few weeks after that, so you don't reopen your stitches."

Jamie nodded once as she looked at her lap. Crap. So she was stuck here for a while. What if Rick came looking for her?

There was a knock on the door and a new face peaked inside. He looked younger than Sam or Embry, but he was definitely Quileute. When he stepped into the room, Jamie noticed something. He was holding a backpack.

"Hey! That's my bag!" she shouted, sitting up straighter. The movement put a slight strain in her leg, but she ignored it. Panic began settling in.

"Collin, what are you doing with her backpack?" Embry asked tiredly, he sounded like he was used to this sort of thing.

"I wasn't snooping through it! I swear!" he shouted quickly. He must be known for snooping through things judging by his defense. "I was walking by and I tripped over it. And then this fell out." he lifted up his other hand, which held a handgun. He looked over and met Jamie's eyes. "Why do have a gun?"

Everyone's eyes were on her, waiting for her response.

"I have a license for that." she swore. They didn't look like they believed her.

"Right, sure you do. You're-what-thirteen? How would you get a gun license?" Collin asked.

"For your information, I'm fifteen. And what's in my backpack is none of your business. It's not like I'm going to use it on anyone here. It's for self-defense. I swear it!" she added frantically, looking at Sam. He studied her face for a long time before his own face softened. He nodded once before looking down at Collin.

"She ran all the way here from Port Townsend, Col. I think having something to protect yourself would make sense."

Another boy who Jamie didn't notice before smacked Collin on the back of the head. He looked about the same age as Collin. "Idiot. I told you not to go snooping through her stuff." he snatched the backpack from his friend's hands and crossed the room to Jamie's bed. He held out his hand to give it to her.

"Here. Sorry, he can be a real-" their eyes met and everything stopped.

Brady found himself getting lost in a pair of dark green eyes with brown flecks, reminding him of a lush, endless forest. In that moment, nothing else mattered, only the beautiful, injured girl sitting before him. All he cared about was seeing her smile, hearing her laugh, talk, anything.

He imprinted.


	3. Chapter 3

Jamie was snapped out of her staring by a couple loud growls. The boy blinked before he let go of her backpack strap, letting it fall on the bed by her good leg. He stepped back and glanced nervously at Sam. Jamie did the same.

Sam was glaring at him, his fists clenched at his sides, but Embry had full on stood up, his whole body shaking as he glared down at the boy.

"Sam…Embry, I-I didn't mean…" he trailed off, looking back at Jamie with a scared expression. Jamie had no idea what her face looked like. She didn't even know what happened. What was that weird shift? And what was with that little staring contest. She had just gotten completely lost in his beautiful brown eyes. Wait, what?! 'No, don't think that.' she scolded herself as she looked down at her lap, knowing her facing was blushing a bit darker.

"Embry, Brady, lets step out for a few moments." Sam suggested sternly. Well, it sounded more like a command, and the two boys walked stiffly out of the room with Sam following behind.

Collin burst out laughing and Jamie looked at him in disbelief. He immediately sobered up and smirked down at her.

"Um, they'll be fine. This just might be a while." he answered.

"What happened?" she whispered quietly, not sure what to make of everything.

Collin thought for a moment before he shrugged. "Their taking on their roll as overprotective brothers?" he suggested jokingly. Jamie tried not to, but she couldn't help smirking at him. He didn't seem _so _bad.

XXX

Sam stalked down the stairs of the Cullen home behind Embry and Brady. When they passed through the sitting room everyone turned to look at them. Carlisle, Esme, and Rosalie were sitting on one of the sofas. The other Cullens must be out hunting, except Bella and Edward, who were away visiting family or something. Jake and Leah were sitting on the two arm chairs, and Kori and Seth were sitting on the floor with Nessie.

"What's going on?" Seth asked worriedly as they passed.

"Brady imprinted." Sam growled. He couldn't help it. He barely knew this girl, but she was his sister. And now she was going to be dragged into the supernatural, and they didn't even know if she planned on sticking around.

Everyone's jaws dropped, but the trio continued on outside. Jake got up to hurry after them, probably so Embry could understand what was being said. Sometimes not being able to hear the other pack could be a pain.

The second they were outside Embry burst into a wolf, quickly followed by Brady, Sam, and finally Jake.

_ "Guys, I'm _so_ sorry, okay? You know we don't have control over it."_ Brady pleaded, crouching down on the ground as he looked up at his Alpha and friend.

_ "She doesn't even know anything about the legends! How do you think she's going to take it?! And we don't even know if she's sticking around!"_ Embry shouted, using Jake and Sam's connection for everyone to hear him. Brady whimpered when he said she might be leaving.

_ "Maybe we can convince her to stay?"_ Jake suggested gently. _"Maybe if you guys take time to get to know her she'll want to stick around. From what I heard earlier, she doesn't seem to have any living family besides her step dad. And she doesn't seem in a hurry to go back to him."_

Brady perked up slightly. _"Why do you think that is?"_

Sam shrugged his large, muscular shoulders. _"I guess the only way to know is if she tells us."_

_ "And that means we have to gain her trust."_ Embry added, having calmed down a bit.

_ "So…can I go back in now?"_ Brady asked anxiously, wanting to get back to his imprint.

Sam sighed. _"Alright fine. But don't mention anything about the legends, vampires, wolves, any of it. We want to gain her trust, not chase her away. If she left she could probably get pretty far. She proved that with having run all the way here from Port Townsend."_

_ "She ran that far?"_ Jake asked in surprise and awe. _"Dang. Impressive."_

_ "I know, right."_ Embry agreed. _"It's the genetics, obviously."_

Jake snorted. _"Right."_ he agreed sarcastically.

The four wolves phased back and pulled on their clothes before heading back inside. Brady lead the way up to the room Jamie was staying in. He knocked before entering the room.

Jamie was eating the food on her lap and talking with Collin, who was sitting in the chair Embry had abandoned. Brady nodded a greeting to his best friend before approaching the girl in the bed.

"Um, hey. Uh, I'm Brady." he said nervously, holding out his hand.

Jamie felt her face heat up and smiled nervously at him as she slowly took his hand. "I'm Jamie." she whispered.

"Sorry about earlier. Complicated guy stuff." he glanced over his shoulder before leaning a little closer to her. "Embry was being a pansy." he whispered, mocking seriousness. Embry came up behind him and smacked him on the back of the head, making Brady wince. Jamie covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. Brady smirked at her, secretly loving the sound of her laugh.

XXX

"This is a really good one."

"Really?" Jamie asked doubtfully as she picked up the sketchpad to get a closer look.

Her and Brady were sitting on her bed, looking through her sketchbook that was in her backpack. She had been staying at the Cullens' for almost a week and had met a lot of new people. She met most of the Cullens as well as a lot of her brothers' friends. Out of everyone she had become pretty good friends with Brady, Collin, Seth, and Kori. She had also been getting much closer to her brothers.

"Yeah, where'd you learn to draw like this?" Brady asked admiringly.

She shrugged. "Well, I took a lot of art classes as a kid, but I stopped when I was about eight. But we also had art classes at school that I took."

"Why'd you stop when you were eight?"

Jamie pursed her lips as she absentmindedly turned the page to the next drawing. "Well,…my mom died and my step dad didn't want to pay for that kind of thing." he was too busy buying alcohol and stuff, but she didn't say that out loud.

"Oh. That stinks." Brady sympathized as he continued looking through her drawings.

"Yeah." she sighed absently.

There was a brief moment of silence before the door opened, and in walked Carlisle, Sam, and Embry.

"Jamie, how are you feeling?" Carlisle asked kindly.

Jamie shrugged. "A little stiff, but that's nothing new." she answered honestly.

Carlisle nodded with a warm smile.

"Well, you'll be good to leave in a few days, however, you're still going to need to take it easy. And you can't really do that on the go."

Jamie looked down at her lap, making it look like she was looking through her sketchpad.

"So, you really only have three options." Carlisle continued.

She looked up at him nervously. "And what's that?"

"You're first option is that I call your step dad and have him come pick you up."

Jamie winced and Brady grabbed her hand. She looked up to see him looking at her worriedly. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand, silently showing him she appreciated the support. She hadn't told anyone, including Brady, why she didn't want to go back to her step dad's, but Brady knew how much she dreaded the idea of going back.

"You're second option is that you could stay here with us."

She looked up in surprise. "Really?"

Carlisle nodded with a smile. "Yes. We have a couple extra bedrooms that you're welcome to, so you don't have to feel like you're in a hospital."

Jamie looked down again. "I've already stayed here for over a week. I don't want to overstay my welcome."

"You wouldn't be, I promise."

"Still…" Jamie wasn't sure she wanted to stay here much longer. Despite being extremely nice, something about the Cullens made her nervous.

"There's still your third option." Carlisle reminded her. She looked up at him again. "Sam and his fiancé, Emily, have offered for you to come and stay with them."

Jamie looked up at Sam in shock. She'd heard A LOT about his fiancé Emily, both from him and many of the other guys. She was highly praised on her cooking skills, her beauty, and her kindness.

"I-I don't want to put you out. Emily already has to feed all the guys, I don't want to cause any trouble or anything."

Sam smiled at her. "It was my idea, but Emily really wants to meet you. She's been going on and on about it. We'd love to have you live with us. We have a couple spare bedrooms that are just sitting there. You're more than welcome to one."

"Plus, whatever you eat would barely be a quarter of what one of us eats. You'll be fine." Embry assured her with a smile.

"Well…" Jamie trailed off as she thought over the pros and cons.

She'd get the chance to get to know her brothers better, and get to know Emily, too. Brady also mentioned he goes over there a lot, so she'd get to hang out with him a lot, too.

But what if Rick found out? He'd be furious. What if he tried to hurt them just to hurt her?

Maybe she could just stay there until she was better, then she could leave.

"Okay." she finally answered, "I'd like that. Thanks, Sam."

Sam smiled warmly at her before moving around the bed and hugging her gently.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow morning, about ten o'clock. Okay?"

"Okay." she answered as she smiled up at him.

The three men walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. It was at that moment that Jamie realized Brady was watching her.

She turned and met his eyes. He was smiling at her.

"What?" she asked with a laugh, feeling a little self-conscious.

He shrugged as he looked back down at her sketchbook. "Nothing."

"Whaaat?" she asked loudly, poking him in the cheek. He laughed and leaned out of her reach.

"Just thinking." he answered with another smile in her direction.

"About?" she urged.

His eyes scanned her face, making her feel self-conscious again.

"I'm just glad you're sticking around." he finally answered.

Jamie felt tears prick her eyes as she stared at her feet. Yeah, she was staying, but for how long? How long could she risk staying in one spot without putting everyone in danger?

She felt a warm, calloused finger under her chin, tilting her face up. Brady became worried when he saw tears welling up in her eyes.

"I didn't mean to upset you." he spoke quietly, not sure what he'd said or done that was wrong.

Jamie pulled her chin out of his grip and wiped her face clear of any tears that might have fallen. "No, no you didn't do anything wrong. I'm being stupid."

Brady put his finger back under her chin and pulled her back to face him. "You're not stupid."

She looked up at him from under her eyelashes. "Thanks." she murmured quietly, forcing a small smile on her face.

Brady smiled back before he picked up her sketchpad and looked at one of the drawings. It was a sketch of a person from her drawing class. As an assignment, they had to draw someone.

"I wish I could draw like this."

Jamie blushed and took the pad from him. "If you want, I could draw you sometime."

Brady perked up, a huge, heart-stopping grin splitting his face. "Really?"

Jamie nodded. "Yeah."

"I'd like that." he admitted quietly.

Jamie smiled at him. Maybe sticking around here would be good for her.


	4. Chapter 4

"You ready, Shorty?"

Jamie glared at Embry for a moment. "Do you have to call me that?" she whined. He'd started calling her that a few days ago, since she was so short compared to him and his friends. She was 5'6", naturally taller than most of the girls at her old school. But everyone here was so much taller! Even Kori was taller than her!

Embry nodded in answer. "Yep. Now, are you ready or not?"

Jamie glanced over her shoulder at the spotless, hospital-like room. Satisfied, she turned back to Embry.

"Yep. We can go now." she answered as she hoisted her backpack onto her shoulder and walked carefully out of the room. Embry stayed in step with her, keeping one arm around her waist in case her leg gave out or something.

The second her feet touched the bottom of the stairs, the weight of her backpack disappeared.

Her head snapped around and she found herself staring into a pair of familiar, deep brown eyes. A smile immediately spread across her face.

"Hey Brady!"

"Hey. How are you doing?" he asked as he swung Jamie's backpack onto his shoulder.

"Pretty good. Now, can I have my bag back please?" she asked sweetly, holding her hand out expectantly.

"Nope. We're going the same place anyway, so I'm carrying it."

"You're going to Sam's? Why?" she asked curiously, letting her hand drop back to her side.

"Emily's making lasagna. Why _wouldn't_ I be there?" he asked rhetorically, causing her to laugh. She glanced around the room and realized they were the only three in the room. In fact, the whole house seemed empty.

"Where is everyone?" she asked, turning back to Brady.

He stiffened for a moment before he answered, "Uh, the Cullens went for a hike in the woods." he answered, though Jamie got this feeling in her gut that he was lying to her.

"Can we go now?" Embry asked impatiently, already walking toward the front door. The two hurried after him, finding Sam's pickup parked in front of the house, with him waiting in the driver's seat.

The ride was probably about half an hour, but it seemed to fly by with all the random, fun conversations they had along the way. They finally pulled up to a small, cottage-like house near the edge of the woods, with a lot of cars parked in front.

"You didn't tell me there'd be a welcoming committee." Jamie mumbled, picking at her fingernails nervously.

"You'll be fine. You know most of them already anyway." Embry reassured her as he got out from the front passenger seat, holding Jamie's door open for her so she and Brady could get out.

When she got out she took a deep breath, her eyes examining the small house. It did look nice, really homely. And you could tell a woman lived here by all the flowers and bushes planted around the front.

A hand gently nudged her back, urging her forward. So she walked up to the house, Sam walking just ahead of her with Embry and Brady on either side.

When they reached the door, Sam held it open so Jamie could step inside ahead of him.

The kitchen was filled with boisterous guys nearly as big as Sam, as well as a few girls. A couple guys about as big and buff as Sam were sitting at the kitchen table, each with a woman seated on their laps. Another boy was sitting with them with a little girl, who looked about four or five, seated on his lap. There were also several boys who looked about Jamie's age spread out around the room, messing around and shoving each other, one pale girl was laughing with them. There were also a couple girls working at the stove, laughing and talking together.

Jamie recognized a few of the people from when some of them came to visit her at the Cullens'; like Quil, Collin, and one of the larger boys with the girl on his lap, but most of the faces were new to her.

She noticed a couple of the guys glance her way and subconsciously stepped behind Embry, nervous of the attention. She peaked around him in time to see Sam walk up behind one of the girls working at the stove and hug her from behind, placing kisses across her cheek, earning a happy giggle from the girl. Jamie couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth as she watched them together. That must be Emily.

"Just a heads up," Embry leaned over to whisper in her ear, "when you meet Emily, don't stare. Sam doesn't like it."

Jamie looked up at him, her brows scrunched up in confusion. "Why would I stare at her?" she whispered back, but he wasn't paying any attention anymore. He left her with Brady as he walked up behind the girl who was helping Emily, picking her up from behind to spin her around.

Feeling a little more exposed without her brother beside her, Jamie crossed her arms over her stomach and chewed on her bottom lip. Trying not to stare at anyone, she noticed Sam leading Emily over to her out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh my gosh!" Emily nearly shouted as she hurried forward. Jamie definitely wasn't expecting it when she pulled her into a tight hug before pulling back to hold her at arms length. "You must be Jamie! I've heard so much about you from the boys! I'm so glad to finally meet you!"

Jamie smiled shyly, a quiet laugh escaping her mouth at the young woman's enthusiasm.

She was easily as beautiful as the guys had described, if not more so. Her beautiful, raven black hair hung down past her shoulders, gleaming in the light. Her almond-shaped eyes were a warm, dark brown -nearly black- that shone. Her pink lips were parted in an excited smile that showed off her perfect, white teeth. The only flaw on her anywhere were the three vicious scars that ran down the right side of her face from her hairline to her chin, pulling down the corner of her right eye and twisting the right side of her mouth into a permanent grimace.

Jamie barely spared the scars a glance, however. She was used to seeing ugly scars to the point she knew how hard it was to look past them. They didn't take away an ounce of Emily's beauty.

"And you're Emily, I bet. I've heard a lot about you, too, from Sam. He talks about you a lot." Jamie responded with a smile, making Emily smile knowingly over her shoulder at her fiancé. Emily quickly turned back to Jamie, gently grabbing her arm and pulling her more into the room, closer to the table.

"Jamie, this is Jared, Kim, Paul, Rachel, Quil, and my niece Claire." Emily introduced her as she pointed to each person seated at the table.

Jamie remembered Jared as one of the boys who stopped by the Cullens' home to talk to Sam about something. From what she saw of him, he was really nice and friendly, and Embry mentioned making several bets with him in the past. His smile was very friendly, and he was very muscular, like all the other Quileute guys Jamie had met so far. He had cropped black hair, also like the other guys.

The girl seated on his lap, Kim, had wider cheekbones, small eyes with long lashes and a slightly broad nose and mouth, and long, straight black hair that went to the middle of her back. She seemed really shy but nice when she smiled up at Jamie, waving her hand a little.

The next guy, Paul, had the same Quileute looks that Jared had, but his cheekbones were a little sharper, and his smile seemed more like a smirk. Jamie wasn't sure if she would like him much or not yet.

The woman on Paul's lap, who Emily introduced as Rachel, was absolutely beautiful. Her black hair was in slight waves that went just past her shoulder blades, her copper brown skin was flawless, and she had a friendly smile with perfect, white teeth. You could tell she was confident with herself, and that Paul was absolutely in love with her, judging by how his strong arms tightly held her pinned to his chest around her waist.

Quil, who was sitting next to them, wasn't quite as muscular as Jared, Paul, and Sam, but a bit more so than Embry and Brady. His short black hair, instead of being straight like the others, had soft curls. He also had a playful, impish grin and a friendly glint in his warm, brown eyes.

Finally, the little girl sitting on his lap, who Emily called Claire, was probably no taller than three feet, with chubby cheeks, a cute button nose, big dark brown eyes, and her short black hair was pulled into two little pigtails.

"Hi!" she smiled happily up at Jamie, lifting one of her little hands and scrunching it up over and over, like she was trying to wave. "My name Cwaire-Bear! I'm four!" she announced, holding up three of her fingers, "I going to be in kindeegarden!"

Jamie giggled along with everyone else.

Emily shook her head at her niece before leaning a little closer to Jamie. "She just turned four a few weeks ago, and when school starts up again this fall, she's going to be in kindergarten."

Jamie laughed quietly and nodded in understanding.

"Jamie!" Suddenly, two arms lifted Jamie up from behind and spun her in circles.

"Collin, put me down!" she yelled through her laughter. She had gotten to know Collin a lot better since they first met when he snooped through her backpack. He was actually really nice and funny.

When her feet met the ground again, she stumbled slightly from being dizzy. She was saved from falling to the floor by a pair of warm hands catching her under her elbows. She peaked over her shoulder to see Brady smiling at her. She smiled back before she stood up straight and looked at all the other people who looked about her age.

Brady stepped up beside her and waved his hand to indicate the first boy. "Jamie, this is Zack, Shawn, Bryan, and Scott. They're all a year or two younger than us."

Jamie waved shyly at the group of large boys who, despite being supposedly younger than her, towered over her by nearly a foot.

Shawn stepped up to stand in front of his friends with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Name's Shawn, beautiful. You ever been to the beach at night?" he asked charmingly, giving her a wink.

Jamie blushed and looked at the floor.

Sam growled loudly and smacked Shawn upside the head.

"Keep your hands off my sister or I'll personally detached them, kid." he snarled, glaring daggers down at the younger boy.

Shawn lowered his head and backed away, though a small glint of amusement shown in his black eyes.

Brady and Embry were glaring at him, as well, until Emily made her way back to the stove.

"Okay, dinner is ready everyone."

Once everyone grabbed some food they spread out around the house, either sitting in the kitchen at the table or in random chairs, or in the living room.

Jamie sat at the kitchen table between Brady and Embry. An elbow nudged hers, making her look up at her brother. He leaned back slightly so she could see the girl he had hugged earlier.

"Jamie, this is my girlfriend Liz. Liz, this is Jamie." Embry introduced the two. Jamie smiled and waved.

"Hi." Liz nodded in greeting, "It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you from the guys and Kori."

"It's nice to meet you too. Embry talks about you all the time." Jamie smirked a little when Liz smiled up at Embry and he blushed. Liz giggled at his reaction and kissed him on the cheek before eating her food.

Collin was seated across from Jamie at the table. The girl she saw earlier, who had fair skin with brown hair with lighter highlights, was about to sit in the chair next to him, but he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap, making her blush bright red in the face. Collin smirked at her and kissed her flaming cheek as he wrapped one arm around her and ate with the other one.

Brady leaned closer to Jamie and whispered in her ear, "That's Collin's girlfriend, Molly. She's from Forks and we met her in our Driver's Ed class."

Jamie smiled and nodded, thinking that was a cute story. She remembered Collin mentioning his girlfriend a few times since they met, and it was obvious that he loved her.

When lunch was over Sam made several of the guys do the dishes, since the girls cooked. Emily came up to where Jamie was talking to Molly and Liz, and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, Jamie, do you want to take your bag up to your bedroom?" she asked with a smile.

Jamie looked up at her in surprise.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Your bedroom. Come on, it's just up the stairs." Emily urged her with a smile.

Jamie nodded, grabbing her backpack off the floor as she followed her brother's fiancé up the stairs.

Emily paused between two doors on opposite sides of the hallway. She pointed farther down the hallway, to a door near the far corner. "That's mine and Sam's bedroom," she then pointed at the door across from it, "that's a study, it has a desk and computer in there, if you ever need to use that, just ask," next she pointed to the door on the same wall as their bedroom, but closer to them, "this is the bathroom," finally, she pointed to the door across from the bathroom, on the same wall as the study, "and finally, this is your bedroom." she announced proudly before pushing the door open and stepping back.

Jamie stepped through the doorway and looked around, her mouth falling open.

There was single bed to the left of the room, a bedside table on either side, one had a lamp on it while the other one had a small digital clock on it. Across the room from the bed, there was a small dresser with four drawers. Finally, there was a window on the far wall, giving a view of the front driveway and the woods in front of the house. It had hardwood flooring and light blue walls.

Sure, it was simple and a little plain, but to Jamie, it may as well have been the best suite at the Hilton.

"It's not much, but I was thinking we could go shopping in Port Angeles this weekend, make it a girls shopping trip. We could get you some clothes and some stuff to decorate your room." Emily suggested from the doorway as Jamie slowly made her way to the bed.

"This is all for me?" Jamie whispered in amazement as her fingers trailed across the simple, blue blanket that covered the bed.

"Of course." Emily answered immediately. "I know you weren't too keen on staying here long, but I'm really hoping you'd consider it. I'd like to get to know you, and I know Sam, Embry, and the others would, too. You're family, Jamie, blood or not. And I'd really like the chance to have you as a sister, someday." she spoke softly.

Jamie felt tears prick her eyes as she looked straight ahead at the wall. She didn't know what to think about any of this. It was all so new to her. The fact alone that they were offering her a bedroom, and to help her redecorate it, was baffling. She didn't even have that much back home. She slept in the small closet-like room beneath the staircase with a mattress on the floor and a flashlight for lighting.

"Jamie?" Emily asked, tilting her head a little in an attempt to see the girl's face.

Jamie quietly cleared her throat to clear away any scratchiness that gave away her built-up emotions.

"Thank you, Emily." she whispered just loud enough for the woman to hear her. "This means a lot, but you don't have to spend your money on me." she added guiltily as she looked back at her.

Emily smiled reassuringly. "It's nothing, Jamie. You're welcome to call this place home, and I want you to feel at home here."

Jamie looked away and down at the blanket again, feeling her throat tighten. "I've never had this before." she whispered, more to herself. Emily caught it, but chose not to say anything.

"Well, I'll give you some time to put your things away, then when you're ready you can come back downstairs if you want. Okay?"

Jamie nodded and as soon as she heard the door click shut she dropped her backpack on the floor and nearly fell onto the bed, crawling up to bury her face in the pillow as tears flooded from her eyes.

They were all being so nice to her, but was it safe for her to actually make this place her home? Could she really risk her new family? She barely knew most of them and she could already feel the bond of a family with them. She couldn't let them get hurt because of her. He would come after her, and them if he discovered how much she cared about them.

Jamie shoved her face firmly into the pillow to muffle the sobs that tore through her throat, hoping no one could hear her from downstairs.

XXX

The only people still in the house when Emily went back downstairs was Sam, Embry, Liz, Brady, Collin, and Molly. They were all sitting around the kitchen table and talking quietly among themselves. They stopped and looked up when Emily came down the stairs, glancing worriedly over her shoulder a few times.

"Em? What's wrong?" Sam asked worriedly as he stood up and wrapped his arms around his fiancé.

Emily took a deep breath. "I-I don't know. Something's up with Jamie, I'm not quite sure, but there's something bothering her."

Everyone fell silent as the wolves listened intently for any sounds coming from the bedroom upstairs. The sound of heartbreaking sobs floated to their ears through the ceiling above.

Brady stood up, causing his chair to screech harshly against the floor. Embry grabbed his arm to stop him from going up the stairs.

"Dude, she probably wants to be alone. Leave her be for now, okay?" Embry suggested gently, even as he clutched his girlfriend closer to his side. He knew if Liz was up there instead he'd be running up there before anyone could stop him. Even now, since it was his sister up there crying, he nearly had to force himself to stay calm and seated. As if sensing his distress, Liz took hold of the hand on her waist and ran her thumb soothingly over his hand.

Brady made a noise between a growl and a whimper. "But, she needs me."

Collin sighed. "Dude, calm down. She's been through a lot."

"What's going on? What do you guys hear?" Molly asked worriedly.

Collin put his arm around her shoulder and put his mouth at her ear, "Jamie's crying. It sounds pretty bad." he whispered as he rested his forehead against her temple, holding her tightly.

"What did she say when you were up there?" Sam asked Emily gently as he rubbed his warm hand over the small of her back.

Emily scrunched up her face in confusion. "She didn't say much, but when she did talk, it didn't really making much sense. It's like, she couldn't understand why we're doing all this for her, you know taking her in and everything. It's like she felt guilty. And then she said something, it just made it all the more confusing." Emily looked up at Sam, her eyes showing how confused and worried she was.

"What did she say?" Sam asked worriedly as he gazed into his love's eyes.

Emily looked back down, staring blankly at Sam's clothed chest. "She said that she'd never had this before." she murmured quietly.

Everyone glanced among themselves worriedly, confused as to what to make of Jamie's words.

"She's never had what before?" Embry murmured more to himself.

"A bedroom?" Molly thought out loud, trying to think about what Jamie could be talking about.

"Well, she said she only lived with her step dad. Maybe she's not used to having this many people around that she sees as family." Sam murmured as he pulled Emily tighter to him.

"I guess the only way we'll know for sure is if she tells us herself." Embry finally announced as he stood up, tugging on Liz's hand. "We've gotta get going. Liz needs to be home soon. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Everyone answered their goodbyes to them as they headed out to Embry's truck.

When they were gone and everyone resumed talking about their own things, Brady turned to look up the stairs. He could still hear Jamie crying, but not as badly as before. He felt a painful tug in his chest, more like a jerk, telling him his imprint needed him. But he also knew she probably needed space. She would talk when she was ready.

'I'll protect you.' Brady thought to the girl upstairs.


	5. Chapter 5

"Okay, what store now?" Molly asked the group as they walked through the mall.

Liz shrugged her shoulders as Leah pointed across the hall.

"How about that one?" she suggested. Everyone nodded and headed in that direction.

It had been a couple days since Jamie arrived at Sam and Emily's house, and Emily had finally convinced her that a shopping trip would be a good idea.

So, Emily, Jamie, Liz, Rachel, Leah and Molly all piled into Emily's and Rachel's cars and made the trip to Port Angeles for a day of shopping. Unfortunately for Jamie, most of the shopping was for her.

They had already bought her things for her bedroom, such as curtains, a rug, a wolf-themed lamp, and new pillows with a matching bedspread. However, she drew the line when Emily offered to get paint to paint her room. She would not let her brother's fiancé do that much for her, they were already going out of their way to make her feel at home.

She also asked if she could buy a book, and picked out _Frankenstein _by Mary Shelley. It was her favorite book of all time. The characters, the plot, everything. But her favorite part was just the whole idea of magic. She just felt like…it was amazing. That, and she always felt bad for the monster. If people had been more accepting he wouldn't have turned evil.

Anyways, after they finished shopping for her room, they moved onto clothes. So far, they'd bought several outfits from two different stores. They'd already gotten more clothes for Jamie than she'd seen herself wear in her lifetime! But, then again, that wasn't really saying much.

When they entered the store, Leah started walking to one side, so everyone just followed her. When she reached the swimsuit isle, she started sifting through the different suits.

"You need a swimsuit." was all she said as she moved to look through some skimpy bikinis.

"Um…why?" Jamie asked uncertainly, eyeing the tiny two-pieces warily. Some of the tops were small enough they could be considered eye patches. "Summer's almost over, it's not like I'm going swimming anytime soon."

Leah looked up at her like she just heard something insane. "Seriously? You're now living on a small reservation, where the only recreational activities for miles involve the beach; like swimming, bonfires, cliff diving, and picnics. You're going to need at least one swim suit."

Jamie swallowed as she tried to think of something to say. "Okay…well, how about one of these?" she asked, trying to sound enthusiastic as she looked through some of the one-pieces on another clothing rack. She knew she wouldn't be wearing any kind of swimsuit anytime soon, but she'd buy one if it meant shutting Leah up on the subject.

"You're kidding right?" Leah asked incredulously as she moved around the rack she was looking through to stand beside Jamie. She took the one Jamie was holding from her hand, a green one piece that probably showed the least amount of skin imaginable for a swimsuit. "Nobody wears these. These are here for old people; like wrinkly, old ladies! Teenagers should not wear these, unless they're, like, fifty pounds overweight."

"Leah." Emily sighed in exasperation, rolling her eyes.

"It's true." Leah shot back, glaring briefly at her scarred cousin before turning back to Jamie. "Here," she handed her a tiny, orange bikini, "try this on in the changing room."

Jamie grimaced at it for a while, not wanting to even try it on.

Silently, Liz grabbed another bikini off the rack. "Here, you may like this one a little bit better." she suggested as she held it out, switching the one she was holding with the one Jamie was holding. Jamie looked this new one over. The top was larger, and would definitely cover more skin than the one Leah suggested. And the bottom looked like short shorts instead of a thong. The top had red, green, and yellow stripes while the bottom was a plain black.

Knowing she wouldn't get out of it, Jamie sighed. "Okay." she whispered as she walked towards the changing room.

Once she closed and locked the stall door, she slowly peeled away her clothes and slipped the bikini on. She was almost too afraid to look in the full-body mirror to see what she looked like. But, after taking a few deep breaths, she finally forced herself to look.

Her physique was fine, after all she worked out on a daily basis for track, and lots of girls would give anything to have a body like hers. She had curves in all the right places, and her chest was a good size, not too big or small. And you could barely see the lines of her abs, but there was just a little layer of fat over them. Of course, no one really knew what her body looked like, because the smallest outfit she normally wore was a T-shirt and running shorts. That was the least she could get away with.

Why? Well, because of the scars and bruises littering her body.

All across her stomach and chest there were little scars crisscrossed over her skin, some had been deeper than others. There was also a few on her shoulders and back, one scar ran the whole length of her back, directly over her spine. He had been sure not to cut any parts that wouldn't be covered by clothes, so her arms and legs, and any other part that was visible during the day, were free of any injuries. There were also several bruises littering her skin, some of them bluish-purple and almost the size of a large fist, some of them green-tinted and shrinking in size with time. Like the scars, the bruises weren't anywhere that wouldn't be covered by clothes.

Tears pricked her eyes as she reached up to touch the small scar over her heart. She had been positive he was going to kill her when he gave her that one. She thought he would just stab his knife through her heart, and end all the pain. But no. That would be too nice. He simply cut through the skin and flesh slowly, listening to her scream in pain as he did it.

Jamie shook her head and cleared her throat as she blinked away the tears that were brimming on the edge of her eyes.

Quickly, she changed out of the swimsuit and back into her jeans and sweater.

When she walked out of the stall, she found all the girls standing or sitting around the room waiting for her. Leah straightened from where she was leaning against the wall.

"Why'd you change back out of it? We wanted to see what it looked like." she demanded, her face scrunched up in slight confusion.

Jamie forced herself not to snap at Leah. She really wasn't Jamie's favorite person at the moment. "I tried it on, and…I like it. Can we head back to La Push now?" she asked, trying not to beg. She knew she'd never wear the swimsuit, but if letting them buy it for her made them drop the subject, she'd go with it.

Emily nodded with a small smile. "Sure, I think we've got enough for now. Lets head back."

After they paid for the suit, they made their way through the crowd towards the large front door. They didn't notice that they were being watched…

XXX

"Jamie, can you come in here?" Sam's voice echoed from the kitchen. Jamie handed her videogame controller to Brady so he could continue the game with Shawn and Alex. It had been about a week after the shopping trip in Port Angeles, and she had become very good friends with most of the guys and few girls that made regular appearances to her brother's house. Mostly the ones closer to her age, but also with a few of Sam and Embry's close friends, like Jared and Quil.

"Yeah Sam?" she asked as she turned the corner into the kitchen. Sam was sitting at the kitchen table, Jared next to him with Kim on his lap acting all sappy and whispering in each other's ears, and Emily was setting a mug of coffee on the table in front of her fiancé.

"There's some things I need to talk to you about." Sam said as he nudged the chair beside him away from the table, suggesting she should sit down.

Jamie stepped from one foot to the other nervously. "Have I done something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Sam smiled as Emily answered. "No dear, of course not. There's just some stuff we need to talk to you about."

Jamie nodded slowly, not sure where this was going, but she sat down anyway.

Sam leaned forward, his elbows on the tabletop, his hands folded together. "Jamie, do you like living here?"

Jamie's head shot up at the unexpected question. "Yes, of course I do." she glanced around the room at everyone. "Are you going to make me leave? Please don't send me back to my step dad! Please! I don't-"

"Jamie, calm down." Emily reassured her as she rested her hand on the girl's shoulder. "No one's making you go anywhere. This is as much your home now as ours."

Sam glanced at his fiancé before looking back at his sister, a small smile on his face. "However, there are a few things we need to worry about."

Jamie eyed him apprehensively. "Like?" she drawled out expectantly.

Sam sighed. "Like making your stay here at least _seem_ legal." he answered like it should have been obvious.

Jamie grimaced guiltily as she averted her eyes down to the table. It was sometimes easy for her to forget that Sam and Emily were technically breaking the law in letting her stay here, like aiding and abetting a runaway or something. Or a fugitive, even.

"You stayed with the Cullens for a while, do you know if you met all of them?" Sam asked, seeming uncomfortable with the topic. Jamie didn't know why, but she never felt completely comfortable with them either, despite how nice they were to her.

Jamie shrugged thoughtfully, "Uum…I know I met Dr. Cullen, his wife Esme, uh…I met a blonde woman, and a really big guy, and really small, petite girl with short hair tried to get me to agree to a shopping trip. And I think there was a little girl living there, but I never really met her, I just heard her laughing. Why?"

"Well, Jasper Hale, one of Dr. Cullen's adopted sons, would be able to create fake identification papers for you. Since you're staying here, we would like to enroll you in the high school here on the rez," Sam paused, studying Jamie's face. She nodded slowly, silently agreeing with him. She figured they'd want to send her to school, after all she was only fifteen years old. It wasn't that much of a problem to her, she never had a real aversion to school, it was just slightly boring. If anything, she'd always viewed it as an escape from her home life.

"However, to do that we'd need to create some papers saying who you are and who your guardian is and everything. I'll be listed as your guardian, and we already have most of the information we need, we just need to know what you'd like to be listed as your name. You can keep your first name the same, obviously, but it wouldn't be a great idea to keep your last name, in case your step dad tries to track you down. Is there anything in particular you'd like your last name to be? Maybe your mom's or something?" Sam asked.

Jamie looked down at the tabletop as she thought that over. It had been a while since she went by her mom's last name, since her mom got married Jamie went by her step dad's name, Anderson. But did she want to go back to her mom's name?

Coming to a decision, Jamie looked up and met eyes with her older brother. "If it's okay…could it be Jamie Uley?"

Sam's eyes widened ever so slightly as Emily, Jared, and Kim snapped their heads around to stare at her, small smiles creeping over their faces.

Jamie bit her lip nervously as she watched Sam. A warm smile appeared on his face as he nodded.

"Yeah, of course. That'll be fine." he finally answered quietly. Jamie nodded with a small, shy smile. "You can go back to your game now, if you want, Jamie. Dinner will be ready in an hour."

Jamie nodded as she stood up. Her eyes met with Jared and he smiled gratefully at her, giving her a nod of approval. She smiled back before leaving the room, stealing her controller back from Brady.


	6. Chapter 6

Richard Anderson glared across to the other side of the cold room, his icy blue eyes seeming to cut into the woman's very soul. She shifted her feet nervously as she glared back, trying not to give in like she did every other time.

"Rick, no I can't do that. I could get fired, or even arrested, if anyone found out." Maria Anderson argued, trying not to let her voice quiver in fear. She knew what this man was capable of, and she feared what he planned to do to her for refusing him.

Rick gritted his teeth, enraged that she wasn't doing what he told her to do.

"I don't give a crap what'll happen if you get caught, what you should worry about is what'll happen if you _don't _do what I say!" he snapped as he pulled a revolver from his jean pocket and aimed it at her forehead. It was his spare gun, the little twerp took his other one. Maria took a step back as terror coursed through her veins, the small of her back bumping into her desk. She knew her older brother would do it if she didn't cooperate. He wouldn't think twice about pulling that trigger. And seeing as they were the only two people in the building, because she decided to stay late at work, there'd be no one around to know it was him. He was very good at cleaning up his messes. She sucked in a shaky breath.

"Rick, I…look, I can't, even if I wanted to. I don't have anything with Jamie's DNA to scan so-" she cut off when he tossed her a hairbrush, which she barely caught in her trembling hands.

"There. It's hers. I took it from the little tramp's room. Use it." Rick ordered in a cold, collected voice, his gun still aimed at his sister. "I want to know who she's related to, it has to be one of them." he stated, thinking back to when he'd seen Jamie with a group of girls at the mall in Port Angeles a couple weeks ago. They were all bushniggers, just like Jamie.

Maria turned to her work table, forcing herself not to point out to her brother that not _every_ Indian was related. He had his own views on their kind, and he wouldn't be so easily swayed.

Her heart was pounding as her computer scanned the system for a match to Jamie's DNA. Part of her hoped that they wouldn't find a match, just so Jamie could get away. Just because Rick was her brother, didn't mean Maria agreed with the things he did. However, the other part of her feared that if they didn't find a match, Rick would take his anger out on her instead.

Ten minutes into the search, Maria didn't know whether to be relieved or horror-stricken when a match came up.

"What does it say?" Rick demanded as he came up behind her computer chair.

Maria tried not to let her lips quiver and give away her fear as she read: "'84.18% match; Jamie Campbell Anderson, Joshua Uley.' From the looks of it, he's her father."

"They were all women." Rick growled impatiently.

Maria sighed, trying to hide the remains of her fears. Maybe if she found enough information to sate him, he'd leave her alone.

"It also says Joshua has a son with his ex-wife, Allison Uley. And…" Maria hurriedly scanned through whatever she could find, trying to find something on any women who might be related. "Oh, it says here that Sam Uley, Joshua's son, is engaged to a woman named Emily Young." she clicked on Emily's file and her profile popped up, along with a picture.

It showed a Native American woman with long, black hair, and three long, disgusting scars marring her face, making her look even more disgusting then she was, in Rick's eyes. He immediately recognized her.

"That's her. She's one of the girls Jamie was with. Where does she live?"

"Rick-" Maria tried to protest, but she felt the muzzle of the gun press firmly to the back of her head.

"Where. Does. She. Live." Rick repeated in a slow, threatening voice.

Maria swallowed nervously before searching through the information on Emily Young.

"Um…it says here she lives with Sam Uley on a small, Indian reservation in Forks, Washington; La Push." she answered quickly, for fear of her life.

Rick smirked cruelly. "Got her." he said before turning to leave.

Maria stood up and stared after him. "Wait, Rick, why do you even want to go after her? You hate her, can't you just let her live her life?"

Rick stopped in the doorway and looked back at his sister for a moment, before he raised the gun and pulled the trigger. He turned and casually strolled out of the room and building with the gun in his jacket pocket, leaving his sister to bleed out on the floor.

**XXX**

**I would like to point out that I got Rick's term for Native Americans, 'bushniggers' from a website on racial slurs for Native Americans, and I, in no way, agree with that term, or anything else he may say later in the book. I mean no disrespect to anyone, Rick is simply the bad guy with a sick opinion.**


	7. Chapter 7

Jamie looked herself over briefly in the bathroom mirror before hurrying down the steps to the kitchen. Emily was at the stove, while Embry, Liz, Collin, and Brady were seated around the table eating. When Embry looked up from his food he did a double take, and coughed, choking slightly on his food.

"You're not wearing that to school, are you?" Embry asked, looking her outfit up and down in a slight panic.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" she asked, looking down at herself. Normally, she wouldn't care what she looked like at school, just throwing on an old T-shirt and either jeans or sweatpants, and leaving her hair in natural waves. But, this was different. People knew her back in Port Townsend, she'd grown up in the same school district since preschool. But here, she was the new kid. She had the chance to make an impression here. To not be the girl who had a total of maybe three friends, who no one really saw outside of school, who no one knew what her home life was like. She didn't want to be the center of attention, but she didn't want to be the girl whose whole life was shrouded in mystery.

So, she had gotten up a little earlier than normal and straightened her hair, leaving the dark brown locks to shine in the light. And she decided to wear a white turtleneck that clung to her frame, while the neck flared out. Over it she pulled on a gray, denim vest, leaving it unbuttoned in the front. Lastly, she was wearing black skinny jeans and plaid Vans.

"Nothing, you look beautiful." Emily answered as she set a large plate of waffles in the center of the table.

"Exactly!" Embry exclaimed, looking back at Emily. "I know how a teenage guy thinks." he stated, pointing to his own head with a finger, "They're going to be staring at her and thinking things that I'll wanna beat them for."

Jamie shifted nervously as she wrung her hands together. "Should I go change?" she asked quietly.

Liz whacked Embry upside the head as she looked at the young girl. "Don't worry, Jamie, you look fine. Embry's just being an older brother."

Jamie smirked weakly as she took the only empty seat between Liz and Collin. The latter chuckled quietly, making her look over at him as she grabbed a bottle of maple syrup.

"What's so funny?" she asked warily. Collin smirked sideways at her.

"Oh, nothing. Just that Brady's demonstrating how all those guys are gonna stare at you."

Jamie looked past him to Brady, who was staring at her, his gaze looking her up and down. She blushed, her whole body heating up under his stare. She glanced at Embry, who was glaring at Brady.

Still blushing, Jamie turned to her food and started eating, trying to ignore the feeling of being stared at.

The back door opened and closed, and Sam came inside wearing only denim shorts, beads of water covering his entire body and dripping from his hair.

As he walked past the table, he patted Jamie's shoulder and shoved Brady's head down, breaking his stare, which Jamie was grateful for. He then kissed Emily on the cheek, taking a plate of food from the counter and starting to eat, leaning back against the edge of the kitchen counter.

"Excited for your first day of school?" Sam asked Jamie as he ate.

Jamie shrugged. "I actually _was_ until _someone_ made me second-guess my outfit choice." Jamie answered, looking pointedly across the table at her other older brother.

Sam followed her gaze and raised an eyebrow, not knowing what had happened moments before he came inside.

Embry sighed. "You look great, Jamie, I just…don't like the idea of other guys thinking that."

Liz, Jamie, and Emily smirked at his answer.

"Yeah, Jew, you look fine." Collin added with a smirk. Everyone looked at him in confusion.

"Um, what did you call me?" Jamie asked slowly, trying to figure out if it was some kind of insult or not.

"Jew." Collin answered casually as he took another enormous bite of waffles.

"Why?" Jamie asked warily, uncertain if asking that question was a safe idea.

Collin swallowed his waffles before answering, "Since you took Uley as your last name, your name is Jamie Uley. 'J', 'U'. Jew."

Everyone stared at him with looks suggesting they were all thinking the same thing. He's an idiot. Brady face palmed before he smacked his best friend on the back of the head.

"Ow! What?! It's clever!" Collin defended himself.

"It's not clever, you're just stupid." Embry pointed out as he stood up, taking his plate to the counter to put it in the sink. "I'm ready whenever you guys are." he added to the whole group as he went back to sit at the table. However, instead of taking his previous seat, he simply lifted Liz into the air, sat in her seat, and placed her on his lap. Liz tried not to smile as her cheeks darkened.

"Not fair, I just got down here." Jamie complained as she tried to eat quicker.

"School doesn't start for another forty minutes. You're fine." Sam reassured her as he glanced at the clock on the nearby wall.

Embry had offered to give Jamie, Liz, Brady, and Collin rides to school; Liz had a license and Brady and Collin had their learners permits, but Liz preferred riding with Embry while Brady and Collin didn't have cars of their own.

When everyone was done, they all piled into Embry's large pickup truck. Liz sat in the front passenger seat while Jamie squeezed in the back seat between Brady and Collin.

"Hey, Jamie?" Collin asked as he turned to look at her, "It just occurred to me, how is it you don't at least have a drivers permit, but you said you have a gun license when we first met you?"

Jamie looked down uncomfortably, and she noticed Embry re-grip the steering wheel as his fists tightened around it, his knuckles almost turning white. She shrugged noncommittally in answer to Collin's question, wanting the subject to be dropped.

"Col, shut it." Brady growled. Jamie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and noticed he was shaking slightly as glared past her at his friend.

After an awkward five minute drive, they pulled into a small parking lot in front of a brick, one-story building. This school was a lot smaller than Jamie was used to back in Port Townsend, but she actually preferred that in a way.

"Great," Brady muttered sarcastically, "you mean no one burned it down yet?"

Jamie covered her mouth to stifle her laughter, and Brady smirked sideways at her before opening his door and waiting for her to get out after him.

They met up with a bunch of the people she'd met previously at Sam's place already, as well as a few others. Shawn, Scott, Josh, Quil, Bryan, AJ, Seth, Kori, Zack, and Alex were all waiting around Quil's car as they approached.

"Excited for your first day?" Seth asked Jamie, his arm wrapped tightly around Kori's waist.

Jamie shrugged. "Eh. Can't be that much worse than my old school, it's a lot smaller."

"Yeah, but heads up; everyone knows everyone around here." Quil warned, "Meaning, the second one person notices the new kid," Quil pointed at Jamie, "the whole school knows about you. Next thing you know, all these crazy, whacked out rumors start spreading around the place."

"Oh come on, what's the worst they can come up with?" Jamie asked doubtfully, crossing her arms over her chest. All the guys glanced among themselves, some with grimaces, making Jamie regret asking.

"Well…lets just say our group as heard quite a few rumors thrown around about us." Alex stated cryptically.

"Like what?" Jamie asked curiously.

"Well, our group as a whole has had several names; like the La Push Gang, hall monitors on steroids, the cult, Sam's Gang, you know stuff like that." Embry started as he looked upwards thoughtfully, "Also, when Liz and I first got together, her ex started a rumor that she cheated on him with me and got pregnant, so she dumped him for me," Liz rolled her eyes at that one, "Oh! Rachel Black works here, and there were rumors going around that the only reason Paul graduated was cause he was sleeping with her." everyone laughed at that as Embry continued, "Well, that might've been true, if he didn't graduate the year before she got a job here. So, obviously people are pretty stupid."

Jamie laughed at all the ridiculous things people actually thought about her friends and family. Did people honestly believe that crap?

Before Jamie could make her own comment, Embry turned to her. "We should probably go get our schedules from the office. I can help you find your classes and locker." Jamie nodded as she followed the group inside the building and to the office.

When she went up to the desk after the others, an older, obviously Quileute woman with graying hair smiled politely at her.

"What's your name, dear?" she asked kindly.

"Um, Jamie Uley." she answered quietly.

The woman tried to keep the curiosity off her face, but Jamie could practically see the wheels turning in her head as she flipped through the files of schedules. "Uley, huh? Any relation to Sam or Allison Uley?"

"Uumm…" Jamie glanced over her shoulder at Embry, who shrugged at her, silently telling her it was up to her what she wanted to say, "Uh, I'm Sam's sister."

"Huh." the woman still hadn't looked up as she skimmed through the paper. 'Seriously?! What's taking this woman so long?!' Jamie practically screamed in her head, getting impatient. "I didn't know Allison had a daughter."

Jamie refrained from rolling her eyes as she took the paper the woman held out to her. "I'm not Allison's daughter." she answered quietly before she left, ignoring the still-curious look the woman had on her face.

As she followed the others out of the office, Collin stated, "Well, that's the start of the latest LPG gossip."

Jamie looked at him in confusion before Brady leaned a little closer and whispered, "La Push Gang."

"Oh." she breathed as she looked down at her schedule.

"Hope you don't mind being looped in with 'Gossip Central'." Collin joked as they headed down the hall.

Jamie shrugged. "Not like I have a choice. You guys almost seem cool enough to be friends with." she teased. Before she knew it, she was in a headlock.

"'Almost'?" Embry repeated in mock disbelief, his arm pinning her in place, while probably using next to no strength, as he gently rubbed his fist into her head in a noogie. "What do you mean 'almost', Shorty? I feel insulted."

"Embry, let her go." Liz ordered sternly, though the fondness in her voice showed how much she cared about him, "It's her first day here, the last thing she needs is to go to her first class with her hair messed up. Next thing you know, people will start saying she 'did it' with someone in the Janitor's closet."

Brady and Embry both growled at that comment as Embry gently released his sister's head.

"Thanks." Jamie breathed in relief to Liz as she brushed her hair down.

"No problem." Liz shrugged as she came up beside her and took Jamie's schedule from her hands. "Lets see what classes you have."

The first class she had was math with Collin and Bryan. Second hour was English with Shawn, Brady, and Alex. Third was business with Liz, which apparently Rachel Black was the teacher of. Then she had lunch with everyone. Fourth hour she had gym with Kori, Seth, AJ, Collin, and Brady. Fifth she had study hall with Quil, Josh, Scott, and Embry. Sixth hour was history with Quil and Kori. And seventh hour she had science with Bryan and AJ.

Once she found her locker and put everything where it needed to be, the bell rang signaling they had to get to their first class. So, Jamie was off to math with Bryan and Collin. Wonderful…

XXX

A few hours later, Jamie was seated alone at a small table in the library, where her study hall was. There were about a dozen people in the room, most of them whispering among their friends when the teacher turned her back, but a few were working on some assignment a teacher decided to hand out on the first day, or reading a book. Since, so far, her teachers had been nice enough _not _to give her homework apart from the occasional syllabus, Jamie had nothing to do. So, she decided to look for a book to check out.

As she skimmed through the titles on the spines of the books, she tried to find something that peaked her interest. However, after almost five minutes, she was about ready to give up. Until something finally caught her eye. She pulled an old-looking book from the shelf. It was coated in a thin lair of dust that came off on her hands. She blew as much of it off as she could before she opened it and flipped to the table of contents. It was a book of the Quileute legends!

Jamie smiled as she skimmed through some of the legends. The Cold Ones, the Third Wife, Taha Aki…It was amazing!

Jamie's smiled widened as she closed the book and went to the desk to check it out. She fully intended on becoming more educated on her culture and tribe. After all, it's a part of her now.


	8. Chapter 8

Jamie laughed with Molly, Collin, and Kori as Seth put Brady in a headlock, leading to the two boys rolling around the living room floor, trying to get the upper hand. Jamie threw her pencil, hitting Brady square in the forehead with the eraser.

"Hey, you goofballs, we're supposed to be getting our homework done." she reminded them through her laughter. Brady smirked at her as Seth released him.

"Gosh, Seth, how old are you again?" Kori joked with a smirk aimed at her boyfriend, who towered over her since she was laying on her stomach on the floor while he was standing.

Seth narrowed his eyes at her before picking her up and hoisting her over his shoulder, earning laughs from everyone in the room. Kori especially was overcome with giggles, her face very dark with a blush. When Seth plopped her down on the sofa, he leaned over her, planting his hands on the back of the couch on either side of her head. Their faces were inches apart for a while, before he pressed his lips to hers in a sweet kiss.

Jamie and Molly 'aw'ed while Collin and Brady pretended to throw up.

"Dude!" Collin covered his eyes with both hands, "That's my _cousin_!"

Seth and Kori pulled away as everyone in the room burst out laughing again, only to be quieted by someone clearing their throat.

The group turned to the doorway of the living room to see Quil and Embry standing there with their arms crossed, Quil holding a red sweatshirt in one hand as the two friends smirked at the younger teens.

"You know, Sam was just telling us that you six were working _so _hard on your homework." Embry stated.

"What subject are you studying, exactly? Chemistry?" Quil asked, aiming a teasing look in Seth and Kori's direction. That made the group burst out laughing again. Kori, however, was trying not to smile as she glared at Quil. Seth simply smirked at the comment, kissing her on the cheek.

Jamie caught Quil's eye when they calmed down a little. "Oh yeah. Jamie, what was your mom's maiden name?"

Jamie's face scrunched up in absolute confusion, the question completely catching her off guard. "Uh…Campbell," she answered slowly, "Why?"

"That's what I thought." Quil answered, "Is this yours?" he asked, holding up the red sweatshirt he was holding. It had black lettering on the front that said _PORT TOWNSEND TRACK_ . And when Quil turned it around, it said CAMPBELL on the back in white letters.

Jamie stood up and slowly took it from him, looking down at it in her hands as her stomach clenched.

"Where'd you find this?" she whispered, almost expecting him not to hear her.

"It was just laying out on Sam and Emily's front porch steps." Quil answered with a shrug, "When I saw the name, I figured you must have dropped it or something."

Jamie nodded slowly, her body going numb. She knew she had to say something, before they caught on that something was wrong. "Um, th-thanks Quil. I'll just, uh, take it up to my room." she said quietly, stepping around her brother and his best friend as she made her way up the steps to her bedroom.

Once inside she gently laid the sweatshirt out on her bed, looking down at it. It was her mother's when she was in high school, and she passed it down to Jamie when Jamie was big enough to wear it, even though it was still a little big on her.

The only problem was, when Jamie was packing up her things to leave all those weeks ago, she didn't pack this sweatshirt. She'd left it behind, in her 'room' back in Port Townsend. There was only one possible way for it to have ended up in La Push.

He found her. And he was letting her know it, too. He was telling her that he knew she was here.

Jamie sucked in a shaky breath as her heart went into overdrive, a cold sweat starting to break out on her forehead as the familiar fear overtook her body.

What could she do? He knew she was here and that would only lead to trouble. If he knew how much she cared about Sam, Emily, Embry, Brady,…_everyone_; he would make sure they suffered. He would go out of his way to hurt them, just to hurt her. She couldn't stay here and risk that, she was a fool to have stayed this long. Now, she had no choice.

She had to leave.

Jamie wiped away a tear that slipped down her cheek before grabbing her backpack that she brought with her. Looking through her drawers, she decided to leave with what she brought, only taking the clothes she came with. She couldn't take advantage of Sam and Emily in any way. Once her bag was packed, she hid it under her bed and looked around, trying to think of an actual plan.

After a few minutes, she decided she'd wait until midnight to leave. Everyone would be gone, and Sam and Emily would be asleep by then. It'd be easy.

The thought of leaving everyone here, however, made her heart wrench painfully. Especially the thought of leaving Brady. That thought alone made her heart feel like it was being torn into pieces and then burned.

When her eyes landed on a notebook on her bedside table, she decided she wouldn't leave without at least telling all of them how much they meant to her.

So, she sat on her bed and wrote out letters to them, trying to put everything she felt onto paper.

She didn't know how long she was at it, but she was interrupted by a knock on her bedroom door. She grabbed the two letters she finished and hid them on her lap under the notebook as her door creaked open, allowing Brady to pop his head in.

"Hey, what're you doing up here by yourself?" he asked quietly from behind the door.

Jamie offered what she hoped was a convincing smile. "Um, just English homework. I couldn't focus downstairs." she answered quietly.

"Well, Emily said dinner's ready." Brady announced quietly.

Jamie looked back down at her notebook. "I'm not that hungry." she answered.

"Well, too bad. I already brought it all the way up here." Brady announced as he fully entered the room, carrying two plates of spaghetti, one of normal size, the other three times as full. "You wouldn't make me do all that work for nothing, would you?" he asked teasingly, holding the smaller plate in her direction.

Jamie smiled for real as she set her notebook to the side and took the plate. Brady sat across from her on the bed as they ate together, joking back and forth and making casual conversation.

When there was a lull in their conversation, Jamie looked up at him, watching him eat for a moment, her eyes soft as she took in every detail. His soft, black hair; warm, brown eyes; thick eyebrows; strong cheekbones. Everything.

Feeling her eyes on him, Brady swallowed his mouthful and looked up at her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked softly, meeting her forest-green eyes with his dark brown.

Jamie swallowed, trying to stop her throat from closing up as she looked down at her empty plate on her lap.

"Can I tell you something?" she asked quietly, keeping her eyes down. "Something serious?" she glanced up just enough to see him nod. "Promise you won't laugh at me?" she checked.

"I promise." Brady answered, his voice holding obvious confusion.

Jamie took in a deep breath, which came out shaky from her bottled up emotions.

"My whole life, I've never really had any friends. I mean, there were people I hung out with at school, like other track runners, but no one I hung out with outside of school. No one I'd consider an actual _friend_. But then…" she had pause to take a few deep breaths, trying to keep her tears in. "But then I came here. Everyone here…you're all probably the first friends I've ever had in my life. And you," she looked up and looked Brady in the eye, "you've become my best friend. I've never had that before. My whole life, I've always seen people with best friends in movies or books, and I always wondered what it would be like. And I'd like to thank you for that."

Brady's eyes were soft, a gentle smile gracing his lips. "You don't have to thank me for that, Jamie. Being friends isn't some kind of favor you owe someone. I'm your friend because you're a really great person, and I care about you. Actually, well," Brady looked down as he scratched the back of his neck, his cheeks growing darker, which made him look adorable, "you've become one of the most important people in my life. And I'm really glad I got to meet you. I wouldn't change that for the world."

Jamie smiled, her eyes stinging with tears. "Me either." she whispered. Even though they'd only known each other a little over a month, Jamie felt like she could tell Brady anything. Unfortunately, there were some things that she couldn't.

They talked quietly for another hour, just about random, light topics; when there was a knock on Jamie's bedroom door. It peaked open to reveal Collin.

"You lovebirds have been holed up in here for a couple hours. What've you been up to?" he asked teasingly, smirking at them.

Brady glared at him, a low growl rumbling in his chest. "Collin, beat it."

Collin leaned his shoulder leisurely against the doorway, crossing his arms. "See, I'd like to, but we have to get going. We've got work, remember Fuller?"

Brady looked at the small alarm clock on Jamie's bedside table and cursed under his breath. He looked apologetically at Jamie.

"I gotta go." he said quietly as he stood up, "See you tomorrow."

"Wait." Jamie got up and hurried after him, stopping in the doorway as he turned back to her. Her throat closed up, so she slammed her body into his, hugging him tightly around his torso. After a second, Brady's arms wrapped around her, holding her almost as tightly, but gentle at the same time.

Jamie's chest heaved as she tried to calm herself down. "Goodbye." she whispered, closing her eyes as she buried her face in his chest. She felt him kiss the top of her head, his breath tickling through her hair.

"I'll see you tomorrow." he whispered into her hair, his voice holding confusion at the way she was acting.

Jamie had to force her mouth shut, or else she knew she'd spill everything to him in that moment. She slowly made her head nod as she pulled away from him, feeling like they were miles apart instead of inches.

Brady's hands slid onto her shoulders as he looked down at her face. "Jamie, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

Jamie swallowed and forced her face to be emotionless as she stared at his chest. "Nothing, sorry. You'd better get going. Bye."

Brady's eyes were narrowed with worry as he scanned her face. He opened his mouth to argue, but Collin interrupted.

"Dude, we gotta go or Shawn and Zack are gonna snitch that we were late to Sam." he announced, already backing towards the stairs.

Brady sighed, his eyes still on Jamie's face as she stared stubbornly at his chest. "Okay, but we're talking about this next time I see you, got it?"

Jamie forced herself to nod as she glanced up at him.

Brady looked like he was fighting with himself, but after a moment, his pressed a gentle kiss to Jamie's forehead before he turned and followed Collin down the stairs.

Jamie sighed deeply, leaning against the doorway as she regain some balance. She was still for a moment before she brought her hand up and barely touched her forehead with two fingers, where Brady had kissed her. A sad smile slipped onto her face despite everything. Brady kissed her. Sure, it was on the forehead, but just the thought had her blushing and smiling. But when the weight of what she would be doing in a few hours crashed onto her shoulders, the smile left and the bubbly feeling in her chest vanished.

She sighed again as she took their plates off her bed and took them downstairs. She saw Embry heading toward the front door just as she put the plates in the sink.

"Embry!" she called, hurrying towards him. Just as Embry turned back to her, she leapt into his arms, hugging him tightly around the neck as she buried her face in his shoulder. Embry hugged her back, his arms around her back, holding her up. After a few seconds he put her down.

"Sweet dreams, Shorty." he smiled down at her, ruffling her hair gently.

She smiled a little wider. She'd hate to admit it, but she was going to miss that nickname. "Night, Em." she said back.

When he was gone, she headed to the couch where Emily and Sam were curled up together watching TV.

"I'm going to go to bed." she announced quietly as she approached them. She bent down to hug Emily for a moment, before doing the same with Sam. "Goodnight." she murmured before heading upstairs, hearing them voice their 'goodnight's.

XXX

Jamie looked at the small clock on her bedside table before slipping her mom's old sweatshirt over her head. It was almost midnight; and Jamie heard Sam and Emily go to bed about an hour ago. She glanced around her room as she slipped her backpack over her shoulders, making sure she had everything she needed. She had about $50 in one of her side pockets on her bag, the total of her allowance Emily had given her for all her chores. She glanced at her bed, making sure the large, manila envelope was propped up; containing letters to Sam, Embry, Emily, Collin, and Brady.

Jamie had to force herself to swallow back tears for probably the hundredth time that night as she quietly left her bedroom, closing her door behind her. She tiptoed down the steps and entered the kitchen, where she grabbed a few food items for the road and stuffed them into her backpack.

With one last glance around the house that she had come to call her home, Jamie left out the front door, walking into the woods in the direction of the highway.

XXX

Brady slipped on his cutoffs before he stepped out of the shelter of the trees, walking across the length of the Uley's backyard. The sound of footsteps scurrying after him were ignored as he hurried towards the back door, the moonlight illuminating the water on the grass from the day's earlier rainfall.

"Dude, seriously, it's after one in the morning. Sam's going to kill us if he finds us in his sister's bedroom." Collin pleaded as he caught up to his best friend. "I'm sure she's fine. Besides, you'll see her in the morning."

Brady didn't even spare Collin a glance. "Something's wrong, Col. I don't know what, or how I know, I just…something isn't right. I can feel it." he looked at his friend as they neared the back porch steps. "If you had a gut feeling that something was wrong with Molly, would you wait 'til morning?" he asked. Collin remained silent as they entered the back door, knowing Brady was right. He'd be doing the same thing.

As they passed the kitchen, they both noticed a slightly fresh trail of Jamie's scent, about an hour old.

"Did she get a midnight snack or something?" Collin murmured to himself.

When they were at her bedroom door, Brady paused. Normally, the tugging feeling he got when something was wrong with Jamie lessened as he got closer to her, but for some reason, it was worse than before, feeling like it was going to wrench his heart out of his chest.

Brady silently turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. His face fell as his eyes widened in horror and fear, tremors starting to rock his body as his wolf fought to get out. Jamie wasn't in the room, and the freshest scent he could pick up was at least an hour old.

Collin cursed behind him before he hurried down the hall to wake up Sam and Emily, leaving Brady alone in Jamie's doorway. His eyes fell on a large, yellow-brown envelope propped up on her bed; with his, Sam's, Emily's, Embry's, and Collin's names written on it. Brady swallowed the lump in his throat and forced the tremors down as he hurried to the bed, picking up the envelope and opening it. Inside were five normal envelopes, each with a different name written on it. When his eyes found his own name, Brady swallowed again as he dropped the others on the bed.

In that moment Sam stormed into the room followed by Collin and Emily, but Brady didn't even acknowledge them, staring at the envelope in his hands. Sam growled in frustration while Emily cried softly, one hand covering her mouth. Sam grabbed the pile of envelopes Brady had dropped, and his face softened at what he saw. He took the letters and ushered Emily and Collin out of the room, leaving Brady to open his alone.

There were two papers inside, one was a letter written in Jamie's handwriting. He read that one first:

_ 'Dear Brady,_

_ I already told you earlier today how much you mean to me. You're my best friend, and before you I didn't even know what that meant. I'm very sorry I had to leave like this, but there are certain things about me that you don't know; that none of you are meant to know. I didn't want to hurt you, so this was the only way I could really say goodbye, because I knew you'd never let me leave if I said goodbye to everyone in person. _

_ I had to leave to protect all of you, from something that you can never know about. If I stayed, all of you could get in trouble, or worse. I'm so sorry, Brady. It's killing me that I have to do this. Maybe I'll see you again someday._

_ From, Jamie_

_ P.S. I never forgot the time I promised to sketch you the way I saw you through my eyes, it's in the envelope with this letter. I hope you like it, because it's how I see you. You truly are an amazing person._

Brady had to take a deep breath when he was done reading to keep the tears at bay. Silently, he took the other paper into his hand and looked at the drawing she did of him. It immediately made a sad smile slip onto his face.

It was a simple, pencil sketch of him, from his chest on up. He was looking into the distance, with trees in the background; and a moon in the top corner, illuminating his face and enhancing his facial features. But what stood out the most was what was standing next to him; fur ruffled by an invisible breeze, head thrown back to howl at the moon; a wolf.

Brady had to take several deep breaths to keep his wolf under control. He could feel him fighting to get out so he could find his imprint. After a few moments, Brady dropped the papers on the bed and left the room, going downstairs into the kitchen where everyone else was waiting.

Emily was sitting at the table, crying with her head in her hands, her own letter on the table before her. Sam was standing behind her, one hand on her shoulder while the other clutched his letter as he seemed to reread it. Collin was sitting at the table across from Emily, staring down at his own letter. Brady had never seen his face look so…lost before.

After a moment Embry stormed into the house, Sam must've called him.

"Well?" he demanded angrily. Collin silently passed him the last envelope labeled 'Embry'. Embry tore the envelope open and read the letter inside. Finally, Brady's patience snapped.

He slammed his hand down on the table. "Why are we just standing around? We have to find her!"

Sam growled at him in warning. "I'm aware of that, Brady. But I wanted Embry over here to help, seeing as Jamie's his sister, too. Now that we're all here, we need to work out a plan."

"What plan do we need?" Brady snarled angrily, his body beginning to shake all over again. "We get out there, and we look until we find her!"

"She's been gone at least an hour, if not more." Collin murmured, his voice unusually quiet and gentle, "She could've covered some serious ground in that time, especially if she decided to run like the last time."

"But we can run faster than her." Brady argued impatiently.

"Enough." Sam ordered quietly, his hands gently rubbing Emily's shoulders to calm her down. "This is what we're going to do. Embry will-"

Sam was cut off by a loud, abrupt howl cutting through the night air.

The boys rushed out the back door and into the forest, phasing to be met with the minds of Jared and Paul, who were patrolling. One word stuck out in their minds.

_ "Vampire!"_


End file.
